Is there anything that Amazon is afraid to try ? Clearly Not.
So in Mexico, where ID theft, Fraud, and cash-paid employees are rightfully weary to punch in a CC #, Amazon embarks to settle these rightful nerves of Mexican consumers by allowing cash deposits into the subscribers gift-card balance. This incentive is likely going to accomplish two of the most obvious goals of Amazon’s:

1) gain more consumers

2) take more market-share

As of today, Amazon finds itself in 3rd place behind Walmex or MercadoLibre in terms of South American e-commerce sales, but as Amazon acts as Amazons does, it’s clear that there are not satisfied finishing this year in 3rd place. I’m wondering if this new cash deposit service will go as planned to really spur its growth in the country?

I don’t know if I would at this point, so I wonder if YOU would you deposit your cash money into your Amazon Account balance for future purchases?

I mean, of course it will alleviate the Credit card fears but still, Amazon hasn’t recruited for their ‘bank-division’…..yet. As far as I know, they haven’t hired titled investment guru’s, financial analysts, tellers, or true bankers, so how can they just decide to act as a bank, without saying they are, and collect people’s hard earned cash?

All of that said, I still wouldn’t doubt their ability to get this division started.

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/10/26/amazon-accommodates-mexico-consumers-privacy-identity-for-cash-%ef%bb%bf/feed/0Whole Foods Market Effects: “GameChanger”http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/10/04/dataimagejpegbase649j4aaqskzjrgabaqaaaqabaad2wceaakgbxisehusehivfhuvfruvgbcwfxuwfhcxfruyfxuvfhgyhsgggbolhhcvitehjsorli4ugb8zodmtnygtlisbcgokdg0ofxaqgc0dhsurky0tls0rky0tky4rls0tkystls8wmi0tky0tl/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/10/04/dataimagejpegbase649j4aaqskzjrgabaqaaaqabaad2wceaakgbxisehusehivfhuvfruvgbcwfxuwfhcxfruyfxuvfhgyhsgggbolhhcvitehjsorli4ugb8zodmtnygtlisbcgokdg0ofxaqgc0dhsurky0tls0rky0tky4rls0tkystls8wmi0tky0tl/#respondWed, 04 Oct 2017 00:50:29 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=625[...]]]>Within two weeks of Whole Foods slashing grocery prices on select items, the marketplace has been greatly affected. Trader Joe’s and Sprout’s, its two main competitors have been drastically affected and Amazon is showing no signs of slowing down in the short or the long-term. Traffic has nearly boosted 25% and it stems directly from this competition. Wal-mart and Costco are also feeling its effects. So yes, just as presumed, it is already a significant game-changer, and we are excited to witness how far it can grow!

The beast that is Amazon just grew over with the purchase of Whole Foods for 13.5 Billion dollars. That seems like a lot, and it is, unless the increase in your stock price is close to the same… Bravo.

With that purchase Amazon has just expanded their brick and motor footprint / grocery store product offering immediately. They not only get the premium brand & locations of Whole Foods (460 stores) but also an expanded infrastructure to further penetrate & capture as much of the 700 Billion dollar a year market that makes up grocery food sales in America. You are already buying almost everything else on there, and lets be honest are also lazy or “efficient” and would rather poke yourself in the eye then go to the store.

They also just announced Prime Wardrobe. A new innovative approach to get more products in customers hands with NO money and obligation to keep anything. They will ship you up to 15 pieces of clothing & include a return label for all of them. Try it on, see if it looks good on you and return everything you do not want. You will be billed only for the items you keep and of course Amazon needs to go above and beyond, and does it again by offering 10% off 3 or more purchases and 20% off 5 or more. Another brilliant way to minimize the risk in the consumers mind and encourage bulk purchases. Shipping is costly but Amazon has the cash to float and test the model where others have failed.

What do you think? Are you going to give it a try?

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/06/22/amazon-wholefoods-prime-wardrobe/feed/0Amazon Pharmacy? Is there anything they will not try?http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/05/18/amazon-pharmacy-is-there-anything-they-will-not-try/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/05/18/amazon-pharmacy-is-there-anything-they-will-not-try/#respondThu, 18 May 2017 17:04:14 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=611[...]]]>Amazon Pharmacy? Is there anything that Amazon will not try? It will not be easy entering the market but if Elon can create a car company from scratch and create the most valuable car company in the world in under 10 years, I am willing to bet Jeff Bezos can buy his way into the “Old boys” club that is big pharma and start slowly but surely taking away market share with the majority of the lazy Americans who do not want to leave their house for anything. Yes right now CVS and Walgreens have the lions share of the market now but so did warehouse music and Sears and look where they are now…
I could also see this being a perfect vertical for Prime Air – A light, expensive product that people need now and for the rest of the foreseeable future.

There are some barriers to entry but with Amazon’s budget, customer base, technology and infrastructure I think it is just a matter of time before Bezos at least throws a few hundred million at it to see if it sticks like he did with the Amazon fire phone.
Even if it fails miserably it will keep Amazon in the news, relevant and give them one more large tax write off.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2017/05/18/amazon-faces-tough-time-against-walgreens-and-cvs/#1e3f3e331e3f
What do you think?

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/05/18/amazon-pharmacy-is-there-anything-they-will-not-try/feed/0Ever Expanding Amazon – Advertising, Finance & Airport hubhttp://amazonmadeez.com/2017/02/13/ever-expanding-amazon-advertising-finance-airport-hub/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/02/13/ever-expanding-amazon-advertising-finance-airport-hub/#respondMon, 13 Feb 2017 15:38:22 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=607[...]]]>I have read to be wealthy having multiple streams of income is one of the best ways to accomplish this. having 5 Income streams makes becoming financially free much easier. I have lost count of how many Amazon has, 25-45 and counting…

With their q4 sales up 22% at an staggering 43 billion they are not showing any signs of complacency or slowing down anytime soon. What started out as a online book retailer has quickly become one of the largest companies in the world, not in just eCommerce but now also with Amazon Web Services, Amazon Video, cloud storage, hosted services, grocery, Prime Now, Amazon Basics, Kindle and the list keeps going.

Their Advertising income is quietly increasing and slowing but surly taking market share away from Google. They also are going into new verticals when they recently announced they are going into the banking industry with their new Amazon Credit card. If that is not enough they are also building their own airport terminal & hub.

Thankfully I have been getting very busy as companies are realizing Amazon is not going anywhere anytime soon and looking at the best way to leverage Amazon to help achieve their goals. Amazon consulting & Amazon optimization is a new emerging discipline that will allow you to remain competitive and grow intelligently. If you are one of those companies, we would love to help.

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/02/13/ever-expanding-amazon-advertising-finance-airport-hub/feed/0Amazon Setting Sights on 5 Billion After-market Auto Industryhttp://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/27/amazon-setting-sights-on-5-billion-after-market-auto-industry/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/27/amazon-setting-sights-on-5-billion-after-market-auto-industry/#respondFri, 27 Jan 2017 15:41:03 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=603[...]]]>This should be no surprise to anyone, Amazon is expanding and there is imminent threat to the industry that they are focusing on, this time it happens to be the 50 Billion DIY after-market automotive industry. The announcement of the news is already having a negative affect on some of the largest brick and motor retailers such as AutoZone and Advanced Auto parts.

Amazon recently closed some contracts with some of the largest Parts makers and with their existing customer base & access to sales data I can guarantee that they are going to be able to sell on price and rapidly take market share away from the existing lower end after market companies as they did with Amazon basics.

I actually started selling aftermarket parts on Amazon over 12 years ago when they were just starting to expand and start competing with eBay who owned and still owns ( for now) the aftermarket parts and auto parts. It has been a long and expensive learning curve for them and for me, but now I get to work with companies like Mercedes Benz of Escondido to help generate revenue from underutilized inventory sitting on their shelves. Unlike other industries, selling automotive parts is very complex and with so many variables and options that go into part compatibility charts, having a good back end infrastructure and correct content is imperative. It was sloppy at first and the compatibility charts were adequate at best, but like anything if you continue to make changes and constantly improve, new opportunities are everywhere.

Amazon does this better then anyone, testing new markets, failing forward consistently and then they find themselves where they are now, expecting to become the number 1 apparel retailer in 2017 passing Macy’s. Bezos is a Beast, he took his small garage book company and has transformed it into one of the fastest growing companies that now has its hand in almost every industry. Watch out Elon & Richard, Jeff wants to play with the big boys!

Please contact us if you would like to learn how to intelligently leverage and grow on Amazon.

Happy Selling in 2017!

Zach

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/27/amazon-setting-sights-on-5-billion-after-market-auto-industry/feed/0Amazon going Airborne & Changing the world yet again with the first Flying Warehouse / Aircrafthttp://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/03/amazon-going-airborne/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/03/amazon-going-airborne/#respondTue, 03 Jan 2017 16:31:45 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=597[...]]]>If someone were to tell you that a eCommerce store just launched a flying warehouse you would check to see if it was April 1st ( April fools) or maybe just crazy. Amazon has yet again, pushed the envelope and is changing the way commerce is done as they were just awarded a patient for the first flying warehouse. Amazon is feeding our western need for immediate gratification even further with this new innovate delivery model that will function like a mix between a blimp, aircraft carrier and drone bomber. It is not yet known exactly what this will look like this warehouse will house and hold several smaller delivery drones that can be deployed as soon as a purchase comes through that has been ordered through prime Now and can deliver packages in MINUTES not hours.

This will obviously not be used for all products, such as lower cost heavier items but I am sure Amazon will continue to spend money, research and come up with an efficient way to feed our growing thirst for convenient shopping and consumption. If nothing else, this innovation & others could be doubled as a marketing expense as they continue to generate buzz, and stay relevant in the media. Well played Amazon.

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2017/01/03/amazon-going-airborne/feed/0Black Friday, once a day, now an entire monthhttp://amazonmadeez.com/2016/11/21/black-friday-once-a-day-now-an-entire-month/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2016/11/21/black-friday-once-a-day-now-an-entire-month/#respondMon, 21 Nov 2016 16:08:01 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=593[...]]]>The days of being trampled or camping out for days has thankfully passed. Online retailers like Amazon are doing whatever they can to encourage binge shopping from now until Christmas. They are offering a different deal every 5 minutes from now until December 22nd. Others are following suit as well, Walmart has made a huge push to compete directly with Amazon and with their purchase of Jet.com and their urgency with getting other products up for sell is working. They are starting to capture more and more market share but have not yet scratched the surface or made a huge impact.

More and more people are shopping early according to National retail federation, almost 40% of shoppers have started as early as Halloween. Make sure you are taking best advantage of this selling season and if you need any help promoting and growing on Amazon we would love to help how we can. Finish 2016 strong and have a great holiday season.

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2016/11/21/black-friday-once-a-day-now-an-entire-month/feed/0Drastic Changes to Amazon Review Policies – No more Reviews for Productshttp://amazonmadeez.com/2016/10/04/drastic-changes-to-amazon-review-policies-no-more-reviews-for-products/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2016/10/04/drastic-changes-to-amazon-review-policies-no-more-reviews-for-products/#respondTue, 04 Oct 2016 16:26:44 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=589[...]]]>Amazon continues to be in the headlines today when they announced a huge change in their policies that affects every seller and vendor. They are now no longer allowing reviews in exchange for free or discounted product. This has been abused by many sellers as product reviews and ratings are one of the highest weighted variables when determining who shows up first when searched, as well as one of the biggest influencing factors in helping customers make their final purchasing decision.

On average consumers (including myself) feel more comfortable buying a product that has 1000 5 star reviews then one with 500 4.5 star reviews. A recent study ( validated common sense) when they found that reviews left by someone who received the product for free or at a discount gave .38 higher star rating and were 12 times less likely to leave a 1 star. Put simply they used data to validate that giving discounts or products for free implies almost a qid pro quo and thus not an accurate depiction of the product and customers have voiced their opinion enough to cause a change in the system.

Amazon has been cracking down hard on this issue and other involving shady / paid for reviews and “has taken a zero-tolerance stance to outfits found violating its rules before, suing companies that directly pay for fake reviews, and in some cases even suing the individuals that write them.”

Violations range from suspension of your seller account, holding funds, terminating your account and in some cases even lead to legal action.

This is another of many examples that prove, cutting corners might pay off short term but it will not last. I believe there is no substitute for ethical, consistent customer service, improvement and follow up. It might take longer to get results, but you will be able to sleep easy at night knowing you are building and growing your company and brand correctly and will be around for many years to come.

Selling Season is almost here, ARE YOU READY? If you or someone you know are looking to expand and capture more market share on Amazon we offer a free analysis of your Amazon Seller or Vendor account.

]]>http://amazonmadeez.com/2016/10/04/drastic-changes-to-amazon-review-policies-no-more-reviews-for-products/feed/0Hard work Pays off – Asana CEO funded by Google! New Integrations helping Manage Virtual Businesseshttp://amazonmadeez.com/2016/08/25/hard-work-pays-off-asana-ceo-funded-by-google-new-integrations-helping-manage-virtual-businesses/
http://amazonmadeez.com/2016/08/25/hard-work-pays-off-asana-ceo-funded-by-google-new-integrations-helping-manage-virtual-businesses/#respondThu, 25 Aug 2016 15:49:15 +0000http://amazonmadeez.com/?p=586[...]]]>A beautiful picture of what it looks like when hard work pays off CEO of Asana got funded by Google and is also showing the world you can treat and pay your employees well. Bravo sir. Well done!

I love seeing people work hard and grow the right way and get rewarded for it. I firmly believe there is more then enough for everyone as long as you are adding value. Asana has been adding value / helping manage my bad ADD / entrepreneur lifestyle. They are great to work with, are constantly striving to improve and there is no doubt in my mind they will probably be acquired by Google or another VC in the next 2-4 years.

If you have not tried it out I highly recommend it. It is based off of a great book Getting Things Done, and simplifies what you really need to get done now and organizes the rest to come up when you need to do it. Not for everyone but works for me. Zach